Caroline Strauss selected to A-10 All-Academic Team
Senior Caroline Strauss, who majors in leadership, ethics and organizational sustainability (LEO) and minors in English, was named to the Atlantic 10 Women’s Rowing All-Academic Team last June. “The team was chosen by a vote of the league’s rowing media relations directors to recognize student-athletes for their combined prowess in both the classroom and in the boat,” according to SJUHawks.com.
Strauss, who didn;t row in high school and walked onto the Saint Joseph’s University team as a sophomore, has made education her priority since she arrived on campus as a freshman in 2014.
“I wanted to try rowing as a freshman,” Strauss said. “I got a little nervous because I wanted to get a feel on how my schoolwork would be. I was worried of the time commitment of being on a varsity team. I put it off and then two of my best friends from home both rowed and they kept telling me that I had to try it.”
Eventually, Strauss went for it.
“Sophomore year I decided to try it and just immediately fell in love with it,” Strauss said.
Strauss rowed for the Second Varsity 8 during her junior year and had an opportunity to be one of only 10 girls to travel abroad to England to compete at the Henley Women’s Regatta, an international race. It was in England that she learned of her All-Academic honor.
“My mom actually found out before I did,” Strauss admitted. “The St. Joe’s women’s rowing Twitter account tweeted about it and my mom saw it. My coaches didn’t say anything to me. I got a Snapchat from one of my friends that was like, ‘So you made the All-Academic team and I had to find out through a post on Facebook from your mom?’ So I went on Facebook and saw the article.”
It’s hard enough for any student to achieve what Strauss was able to do in the classroom, but it becomes even more impressive when you consider the athletic commitments that accompany the title of Division I Athlete.
Members of the women’s rowing team have morning practices Monday through Saturday that last about two to three hours each day. Practices start at 6:15 a.m. Strauss says she wakes up at 5:25 a.m. and leaves by 5:45 to get to the boathouse, which is about four miles from campus. Then they’re required to lift three times a week for an hour. Not to mention, the team holds a second practice in the afternoon that lasts an hour and a half on Wednesdays. Additionally, rowers are expected to do some lighter cardio workouts three times per week. That sums to 20 to 25 hours each week dedicated to practice alone.
“It’s a pretty big commitment,” Strauss said. “But it’s like less noticeable because so much of it is in the wee hours of the morning when nobody else is up. It’s not like taking a big chunk out of the middle of your day like the basketball team does or something.”
“Usually I try to be in bed by 10 at the latest,” Strauss said. “I don’t think I’ve stayed up past 11 in a very long time. I know I’m not going to have a good practice and I’m not going to be very attentive in class if I don’t get a solid seven and a half to eight hours of sleep.”
Strauss’s obligations and campus involvement don’t end with rowing and classes, though. She spends another six hours per week working in the Writing Center. Moreover, she’s the president of Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honors society at St. Joe’s, and also fits in babysitting gigs during the school year.
Although she finds time to excel in the classroom, finding free time proves to be challenging with Strauss’s schedule.
“I don’t really spend a lot of time goofing around and stuff,” she remarked. “Usually if I have an hour or two between classes, I’m doing work for the class; I’m going to or trying to catch up on something for the next day. Usually my Saturday afternoons are reading or studying, and all of Sunday I try to get ahead on work for what’s coming. It’s a lot of work on the weekends and a lot of using whatever free time I have.”
Her favorite class this semester is Social Enterprise and Social Change. The course is described to “introduce students to the concepts of social enterprising as a means to promote social change, according to the academic catalog.
“How can you run a business that can make a difference in the world?” Strauss asked. “[The course is] all about how even corporate, business-y people can institute social justice and social change, which exactly what I want to do.”
Strauss does find time to relax somewhere in what could probably compete for the busiest schedule on campus.
“I love hanging out with my friends,” Strauss said. “I really like movie nights, game nights, close, intimate things with my friends and my boyfriend. My roommate [Jane Hooper] and I often do the open mic nights. She plays guitar. I play a little bit of guitar and little bit of ukulele, but she’s the talented one. I sing and she sings. Sometimes [roommate] Allison [Markman] does it with us too.”
Senior Jane Hooper, who’s shared a room with Strauss nearly each semester since their sophomore year, said she wasn’t very surprised to hear of her roommate’s accolade.
“[I was] a little surprised but also not really,” Hooper said. “When I see her study, she tends to get things very, very quickly. She’s very efficient with her time.”
John Bartlett, Strauss’s boyfriend, also wasn’t too shocked to learn of the news .
“I knew she had really good grades and worked really hard, so I’m not too surprised,” Bartlett said.
Hooper also confirms that Strauss still does an excellent job at finding time for her friends and is also talented in other activities, such as basketball.
“She’s overall, all-around, just basically good at everything,” Hooper said with a laugh. “Even with the [All-Academic selection], she didn’t even know. She’s very down to earth, which is the reason why she’s my best friend.”
Strauss’s academic achievements didn’t just begin in college, as she was named salutatorian of her graduating high school class.
“I wrote this long speech about how Aristotle talked about this idea of flourishing and becoming the best you can be,” Strauss said. “I reflected on instances where my classmates, or my class as a whole, or my school as a whole really brought out the best in who they are and didn’t settle for what was required, but decided to go above and beyond that.”
It’s safe to say Strauss has taken her own advice and gone above and beyond what’s been required.
The women’s rowing team opens their season at the Lehigh Invitational on Sept. 30.
